


Mångata

by N (Kiyo_Mizuki)



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Arguing, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Back Together, Human Experimentation, Inukashi is mad at everyone, Laboratories, M/M, Missing Persons, Nezumi done did a stupid, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rescue Missions, Reunion, Shion made a bad decision, Short Chapters, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyo_Mizuki/pseuds/N
Summary: Nezumi promised himself he'd go back after a year. Why didn't he? Shion tried to forget that man ever existed. Why couldn't he? A year after saying goodbye, Shion makes a new promise: that he'll find Nezumi and make him come back home. A series of mistakes lead two souls back together.
Relationships: Inukashi & Nezumi (No. 6), Nezumi & Safu (No. 6), Nezumi/Shion (No. 6), Safu & Shion (No. 6)
Kudos: 1





	Mångata

**Author's Note:**

> The Swedish mångata translates literally to "moon-road" and describes the moon's reflection on a body of water.

_“Reunion will come, Shion...”_

Five years ago, a No. 6 elite saved a drowned rat. 8 hours later that same rat disappeared into the night. A year ago, they met again, the correctional facility exploded, and the wall came tumbling down. In the moments soon after, Nezumi left Shion in a desperate attempt to outrun his own emotions, abandoning the one person who might have truly cared about him. 6 months ago, a year after his departure, Nezumi made the decision that he was done running. Receiving yet another frantic message from Inukashi, a loyal ally, he had planned to journey back to No. 6, to face Shion after a year of hiding. He was ready to, he thought, just maybe. But, 6 months ago, a gray-eyed dark-haired new specimen was brought into the main laboratory of No. 3: Helios. A lab rat, a toy for the resident head researcher.

Gray eyes looked out at the wall that was actually a glass window, the kind that allowed others to see inside but blocked the subject from seeing the outside. Something of that nature, Nezumi assumed. He often received comments or instructions from Dr. Rohan out of the speaker attached to the ceiling. And, while he could see no whitecoat man, the doctor seemed to be able to see his every move. He stared directly forward, assuming he was making eye contact with someone, one of the assistants, probably, or even the doctor himself. Someone was always watching their precious specimen no matter what time it was it seemed. Nezumi, having been here for at least a few months now, didn’t pay mind to it anymore. Was this his first laboratory? No. So why did it matter?

He’d spent days like this, sitting in his cage, his prison cell, thinking only of what might have been if he went back sooner or if he never left. How different would it be? Would things be better? He’d feared something that was new, that he was afraid to break, but this, this was worse. The pain of reopening past traumas in a relationship that was ultimately a good thing seemed far different to him now from the feared monster it had been when he left. His fear now was much clearer, resting at the forefront of his mind: that something happened to Shion. Sometimes he made himself feel better by his knowing that Shion was not here in this awful place with him, but where Shion was might not be much better. He’d heard the faculty. They talked about it often. A young man leading a movement from No. 6, that had to be him. Nezumi sighed softly, having gotten used to doing so with the level of pain he was constantly in.

“Subject 9,” the doctor called to him suddenly, voice echoing through the open space, “Stand.”

Looking up at the speaker when he heard the sound, Nezumi got up to his feet as quickly as his underfed and injured body could. He had become obedient in an attempt to avoid further beatings from the “esteemed” faculty. He was far too used to being prodded with a stick and referred to solely as Subject 9 or simply Nine. Upright now, he awaited his next instructions.

A door opened and Nezumi fought the urge from his past to whip around to face the person, an instinct he still battled daily, the only one he hadn’t been able to shake in these months. He heard the doctor’s footsteps against the cold tile floor and tensed up as he heard the buzzing from the electrical rod that would soon be jabbed into him if he was somehow “unsatisfactory.” That feeling of his insides prickling was unpleasant and he had no idea what setting it was on. It ranged from light shocks to ones that would cause him to convulse on the floor or even lose consciousness depending on how long the doctor left the rod in contact with his body.

“Do you know why I am here to see you, Nine?” Dr. Rohan asked him.

“Yes, Doctor…”

“What was that you said now?”

Rohan immediately pressed the rod to Nezumi’s side and the man bit back a surprised sound as he felt the electricity zap him. The doctor eyed him and Nezumi nodded slowly, trying not to react to the sensation. Breathing in and out, he spoke again softly. In this place, he found himself sounding much more like his persona of Eve from the old theater. Soft, feminine, weak, and overall just pathetic. He nearly made a sound when he felt the rod be set to a higher voltage.

“Y-Yes, Dr. Rohan, sir.”

“Good. Was that so hard?” Rohan asked and Nezumi knew not to answer him.

The doctor continued to pace around Nezumi in a slow, large circle, watching him like a predator. He kept a neutral expression but the rat knew he was smirking internally. He always was. Rohan loved having the upper hand, Nezumi had found out. He loved control, craved it, and found joy in exerting his power over those weaker than him.

“I know you, Nine,” Rohan told Nezumi.

The dark-haired man knew this was true in some ways. Rohan had figured out some aspects of Nezumi’s previously led life through his reactions. An actor is only so skilled after all. Nezumi held himself together for weeks before his body was far too weak to do it any longer. He couldn’t pretend it didn’t affect him, he couldn’t be fearless and powerful when he was weak and afraid.

“I know you well,” the doctor continued, “So well that I know you’ll be thrilled to see this.”

The doctor held up his digital clipboard but Nezumi couldn’t see what was glowing on its screen. He knew Rohan was taunting him per usual. He never learned anything from the faculty without paying a price. Nezumi waited for the doctor to have his fun.

“You’re fond of the boy from Six, right?” Rohan asked him and Nezumi tried to not respond.

He’s talking about Shion, a voice in his head told him. You don’t _know_ he’s talking about Shion, he argued with himself, trying to look neutral. The doctor’s lips curled up in an even creepier smile than earlier as he turned his screen around for Nezumi to read. Gray eyes scanned it.

_Councilman Shion has been found missing._

Well, Nezumi thought, that certainly confirms it. Missing, dead, same thing, right? He sighed and tried not to let his expression show on his face. But he was tired, tired meant weak, and weak meant his thoughts were readable from his expression. What a terrible show he was putting on. Had he not pride in his job as an actor? He flinched slightly when Rohan made a move like he was going to simply strike Nezumi upside the head with the rod rather than use it properly.

“Now that I’ve shown you that, it’s time to run a test. Follow me, quickly now.”

“Yes, Doctor Rohan.”

Nezumi was then taken from his holding area to a much bigger room where a makeshift labyrinth had been constructed. He sighed. This again? Really? Taking a breath, he waited for the next set of instructions to be given to him. This would be… another long day...

─────»»✧✧✧««─────

Two days ago Shion made a decision he would probably regret. One day ago, a white-haired boy was spotted leaving West Block, almost falling into a pit on the way. Five hours ago some idiot without a plan realized he was totally lost in the middle of nowhere. Now, Shion was sitting on a rock, looking over a handwritten list of names and places, clearly stressed out beyond belief but holding together better than anyone else really expected of him at this point.

He hadn’t really been thinking all that deeply when he left. If he had been, he supposed, he would have more useful items with him, more food, and maybe feel less horrible about the words he’d said to his mother. But he was trying not to think about it. Anything to keep calm at a time like this. Right? It wasn’t as though he looked visibly anxious and was jittering every second. He certainly _wasn’t_ actually physically _vibrating_ in anxiety on a rock in the middle of nowhere.

_I’m… I’m calm. I didn’t tell my mom I hated her. I didn’t steal from Rikiga and Inukashi. I didn’t abandon a government job and then get myself lost in the wilderness. I didn’t do this all for that bastard. I don’t care what happened to him. Nope. Don’t care. Not at all. Not thinking about it._

He looked determined, strong even, for a moment before his expression fell and he appeared defeated. He sighed, trying not to think about his issues but focusing on them harder and harder the more he tried. Why can’t people just _not_ think? That would be so much easier. Right??

_Yes, I did do that and now this is happening and it’s only been 48 hours and now we’re here._

Knowing that he had to go somewhere, or try to, he stood up and began walking again. It was a pointless kind of hope to think wandering aimlessly would lead him where he was meant to go, but there was no other option, so this would do. He carried the bag he had and walked towards nothing in particular. Too far outside West Block, it was fairly unclear where he was.

It would only be a few hours, three more wrong turns, and a near-death experience later that Shion actually saw another human person. Yes! People! He was kind of relieved to see other people even if he couldn’t discern their motivations. He walked around looking for some way to figure where he was. It looked a lot like West Block, yet he knew he was far from home. He figured he’d need to be one guard, find someone nonthreatening, ask where he was, find some clues as to where Nezumi might have gone. What would Nezumi have been doing all this time?

“Hm…”

He knew his appearance might be a little jarring for people so far outside the territory of No. 6 and he was somewhat prepared for the same reaction those children had once had, but, at the same time, he really didn’t want to have someone start screaming at the sight of him. Pulling a hood over his head, he tried to hide in the groups of people going about their lives in this little town. So far, no one looked like they’d be friendly enough to chat. Just like back home, these people were rough and saw the world as give and take. Which… made enough sense.

Shion made his way deeper into town and was only met with more people who looked like they’d make an attempt on his life if he tried to ask them anything. People are at their most dangerous when they are desperate. Someone said that to him once, but in his tired state, he couldn’t remember if it was Nezumi or Inukashi who had. Probably Inukashi. Nezumi really didn’t talk about morals but he could sometimes weasel a conversation out of the hotel owner.

Walking somewhat aimlessly again, he looked around at the people and spotted a woman with a child. Perhaps she would be able to help? It was probably better than asking the man he saw earlier who he witnessed pull a knife on some other man, causing a fight to break out.

“Excuse me…?” Shion managed to ask the woman, who had kind eyes for someone in these parts, in a tone that didn’t scream anxiety, “Um... Can I ask you something?”

She wasn’t opposed to being asked questions at a price, of course. Confident that this woman wouldn’t turn around and try to mug him like the others probably would have, he gave her what she wanted in exchange for some information. Part of him felt kind of “grown-up” as the last time he’d done this, Nezumi did most of the talking, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the feeling for long. Getting his information, the situation began to make more sense.

This was a community at the edge of another biome, No. 4: Aeros. Shion had apparently managed to go through the wilds completely bypassing the fifth biome. The woman had said that this town was left alone by the government of No. 4 and that she herself had not seen any travelers come by and stay, and certainly no one with an appearance like his. A few explanations later, the woman said she had heard of a man with a mouse traveling through a while ago but he didn’t stick around long. Allegedly, this person, who Shion would gladly bet money was Nezumi, had come into town, beat one of those big men he saw earlier in a fight (somehow), and then was gone the next day. At least he now knew he was on the right track. He supposed so.

Thanking the woman and handing her the money she desired, Shion noted that he would have to keep traveling. If Nezumi left the outskirts of No. 4 so long ago, he could have made it all the way to the first biome by now! More motivated after finding this information, he settled on finding a place to stay (perhaps a hotel like Inukashi’s if those were a thing out here?) and then setting out once more towards No. 3 in search of more information. Unbeknownst to Shion, he was only a journey away from the location where everything went wrong for the rat.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little rushed, but overall I think it went alright. If you have any questions about the fic or uh me, you can send them on https://a-drowned-rat.tumblr.com/ (just so I get a notification versus having to check here which does not work well lol)


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